Fixed-income and hedge fund manager Advent Capital Management is marketing its Global Convertible Strategy in separately managed accounts to pension funds. Advent recently partnered with Insinger de Beaufort Asset Management NV in Amsterdam to introduce the strategy to U.S. plans, said Jessica Owen-Smith, v.p. of investor relations at Advent.
Insinger currently runs the strategy as a fund and markets it in Europe. The Dutch firm wants to focus on its core competency of managing equities and is also eager to gain clients in the U.S. Advent’s cio, Tracy Maitland, and co-portfolio managers Hart Woodson and F. Barry Nelson will take over managing the strategy this month. The two firms will share fees and Advent will market the strategy this side of the Atlantic. Owen-Smith said Advent plans to begin a road show in the fall.
In the U.S., the Global Convertible Strategy is being sold in separate account form because a lot of pension funds prefer to have a tailor-made portfolio, Owen-Smith said. She declined to provide performance figures.
Owen-Smith hopes the strategy, which has a capacity of $1 billion, will benefit from plan sponsor appetite for international investments due to higher returns. The firm expects convertibles to continue to rebound after the market was oversold last year, when a significant drop in volatility occurred because several hedge funds sold their convertible arbitrage positions.